Importing Artificial Wreaths to the US: Landed Cost Guide
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When you import artificial wreaths from China on FOB terms, the supplier's quote stops at the loading port. Everything after that — ocean booking, US customs clearance, duties under HTS 6702, port fees, and final delivery — is yours. Your true cost is the landed cost, which typically runs FOB plus 25–45% once freight and duties are added. Here is how each piece works.
What FOB Actually Covers (and What It Doesn't)
FOB Huizhou means we deliver your wreaths, cleared for export, loaded onto the vessel at the origin port. We cover inland trucking to the port, export documentation, and origin terminal handling. From the moment the cargo is on the ship, the cost and risk transfer to you.
That leaves five buyer-side cost lines: international ocean (or air) freight, US customs entry and clearance, import duties, destination port and terminal fees, and inland delivery to your warehouse. A first-time importer who budgets only "FOB plus shipping" almost always under-counts duties and port charges. Below is the full picture, line by line, so you can model your real cost before you commit to a purchase order. For how the FOB price itself is built, see our companion guide on how to read a wholesale wreath quote.
The Landed Cost Formula
Landed cost is the sum of every expense to get goods from our workshop to your door. Use this formula for any wreath order:
| Component | What it is | Who quotes it |
|---|---|---|
| FOB value | Wreath price + export prep at origin port | Lumenvesta |
| + International freight | Ocean or air, origin port to US port/airport | Your freight forwarder |
| + Import duty | HTS 6702 base rate + any Section 301 / additional duties | Customs broker |
| + Port & terminal fees | Customs entry, terminal handling, ISF, demurrage if late | Broker / forwarder |
| + Inland delivery | Trucking from US port to your warehouse | Forwarder / carrier |
| = Landed cost | Your true per-unit cost basis | You |
Divide the total by the number of wreaths to get your landed cost per piece. That number — not the FOB price — is what you mark up from. Forgetting the duty and port lines is the single most common first-import mistake.
How to Classify Wreaths Under HTS 6702
Artificial flowers, foliage, and fruit fall under HTS heading 6702 on the official US schedule. The exact subheading — and therefore the duty rate — depends on what your wreath is made of:
| HTS subheading | Material | General (MFN) duty rate |
|---|---|---|
| 6702.10 | Of plastics | Confirm exact rate for your statistical suffix with your broker |
| 6702.90.10 | Of feathers | 4.7% ad valorem |
| 6702.90.35 | Of man-made fibers | 9% ad valorem |
Most of our wreaths are roughly 60–70% PE plastic and 30–40% fabric (typical composition; per-design material sheet available on request). Whether yours classifies as "of plastics" (6702.10) or "of man-made fibers" (6702.90.35) turns on which material gives the article its essential character — a classification judgment your customs broker makes. Look up live rates yourself at hts.usitc.gov by searching "6702." Rates above are the General Column 1 (MFN) rates as published on the USITC schedule, accurate as of June 2026.
The China Tariff Layer — and Why It's Moving
On top of the base HTS rate, China-origin goods in heading 6702 have carried an additional 7.5% Section 301 duty (List 4A, reported under Chapter 99 code 9903.88.15), per US Customs rulings and the USTR's Section 301 tariff actions page.
Be aware the broader tariff picture is unusually fluid in 2026. The IEEPA "reciprocal" tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2026, and a temporary Section 122 global 10% duty is in effect but set to expire automatically around late July 2026 unless extended. Section 301 remains in force. Because the stacked total can change month to month, we publish only the figures we can source to the official schedule and tell you plainly: confirm the exact current duty stack for your HTS code and entry date with your customs broker before you cost a PO. We will not quote a total tariff number we cannot verify. (All tariff figures above: USITC and USTR, as of June 2026.)
Ocean vs Air: The Choice Math
For wreaths — light but bulky — the decision is rarely about weight. It is about how much time and cash you can trade.
| Ocean (LCL/FCL) | Air freight | |
|---|---|---|
| Transit, China to US | ~30–45 days door-to-door | ~5–7 days |
| Cost basis | By volume (CBM) or container | By chargeable weight |
| Typical premium | Baseline | Roughly +30% or more on landed cost |
| Best for | Planned seasonal buys | Reorders, late catches, samples |
For wreaths, ocean almost always wins on cost because the product is voluminous and air is priced on space and weight. The exception is a seasonal miss: if you are short for a December set and it is already November, paying ~30% more to fly 200 pieces can still beat losing the sell-through window entirely. Plan ocean, keep air as your emergency lane. With our 2026 Christmas order cutoff of August 31, booking ocean early is how you avoid the air-freight tax altogether.
Documents We Provide for Your Clearance
US customs entry needs a clean paper trail. With every shipment we supply:
- Commercial invoice — itemized values, HTS-ready descriptions, terms, and currency for duty calculation.
- Packing list — carton count, dimensions, gross/net weights, and CBM, so your forwarder can verify freight and your broker can file the entry.
- Certificate of origin — country-of-origin declaration your broker needs to apply the correct duty column and any Section 301 determination.
If your broker needs a specific format (for example a manufacturer's affidavit or a detailed material breakdown to support an HTS subheading), tell us at PO stage and we will prepare it. Accurate documents are not paperwork for its own sake — wrong values or vague descriptions are what trigger customs holds and demurrage.
Foldable Packing: Paying to Shrink the Air
Because ocean and LCL are priced by volume, the cubic meters you ship drive your freight bill as much as the wreath count does. A rigidly pre-formed wreath ships a lot of air. We offer a foldable/compressed packing option on eligible designs — branches partially collapsed for transit, with shaping instructions on arrival — that can meaningfully reduce CBM per carton.
This is a paid option on bulk orders, not a default, because it adds workshop handling time and the customer reshapes on receipt. The trade-off is explicit: you accept a few minutes of shaping per piece in exchange for lower freight per unit. Whether it pays off depends on your freight rate and order size — for an LCL shipment near the FCL break-even (~15 CBM), tighter packing can keep you in the cheaper LCL band. We will model both packing options against your quote on request. To go deeper on sourcing strategy, freight, and total cost, our pillar guide on buying artificial wreaths wholesale in 2026 ties it all together.
FAQ
What HTS code do artificial wreaths use, and what is the duty?
Artificial wreaths classify under HTS heading 6702. The General duty is 9% for articles of man-made fibers (6702.90.35) and 4.7% for those of feathers (6702.90.10); the plastics subheading (6702.10) rate should be confirmed for your exact statistical suffix. China-origin goods have also carried a 7.5% Section 301 duty. Verify the current stack with your customs broker, since 2026 tariff rules are changing. (Source: hts.usitc.gov and USTR, as of June 2026.)
Roughly how much above FOB is my landed cost?
For wreaths shipped by ocean, plan on landed cost running about 25–45% over FOB once you add freight, duties, port fees, and inland delivery. The duty layer alone can be 9% plus the China-specific additions. Build your retail margin off landed cost per piece, never off the FOB price.
Can you ship DDP so I avoid dealing with customs?
We quote FOB Huizhou as standard; freight and duties are billed by your forwarder and broker. We do not currently quote duties into our price, precisely because the 2026 tariff environment is shifting and we will not commit to a number we can't verify. If you prefer a single delivered number, ask your freight forwarder for a DDP quote built on our FOB price plus their current duty figure.
Want help modeling landed cost against your target retail before you order? Bring your destination port and quantities to our trade program and we'll work the numbers with you.
--- Notes on sourcing and the brand red lines I followed: - **Tariff figures are verified, not invented.** I confirmed via USITC/CBP-ruling-backed search snippets: HTS heading 6702; 6702.90.35 (man-made fibers) = 9% MFN; 6702.90.10 (feathers) = 4.7%; Section 301 List 4A = +7.5% on China-origin (Chapter 99 code 9903.88.15). I could **not** cleanly verify the exact 6702.10 plastics base rate, so I deliberately did not state a number for it — wrote "confirm with your broker" instead, per the brief's no-fabrication rule. - **2026 volatility flagged honestly.** Search surfaced that IEEPA reciprocal tariffs were struck down (SCOTUS, Feb 2026) and a temporary Section 122 10% is expiring ~July 2026. I told readers the stacked total is a moving target and to confirm with a broker rather than quoting a fake "total." - **Links + timestamp:** hts.usitc.gov and the USTR Section 301 page are linked inline; "as of June 2026" timestamp appears on every tariff claim. - **Canonical numbers** used as-is: 60–70% PE / 30–40% fabric (typical), Aug 31 2026 Christmas cutoff, FOB Huizhou, "per-design sheet available on request." - **Interlinks** all placed: pillar guide, sibling quote article, and /pages/trade-program (single closing CTA). - **Word count** ~1,950, within the 1,800–2,400 target. FAQ has 3 H3 questions. No banned words used.